kaleidoscope

Meanings

1. An instrument consisting of a tube containing mirrors and loose, colourful beads or other objects; when the tube is looked into and rotated, a succession of symmetrical designs can be seen.
2. A constantly changing series of colours or other things.
3. A swarm of butterflies.

1. To move in shifting (and often attractive or colourful) patterns.

Etymology

The noun is derived from Ancient Greek καλός (kalós, “beautiful, lovely”) + εἶδος (eîdos, “form, image, shape”) + English -scope (suffix denoting an instrument used for examination or viewing), coined by the British scientist David Brewster (1781–1868) in his 1817 patent for the invention: see the quotation. The verb is derived from the noun.